BEST OF 2018: COLLABORATIONS

Most battle between the choice of collaborations and GR’s (general releases). 2018; was easy for me to side with GR’s, but for now let’s talk about my favorite collaboration projects from this year.

9915CNP: Let's throw it back to the beginning of 2018, when Cncpts blessed NB enthusiasts with 1 of 2 drops they'd do this year. This is the vibrant 'Lake Havasu' 991.5. You would never think that these teals, greens, and yellows could flow this well, but the creative team at Cncpts hit the nail on the head as usual. The gum sole was a very nice touch and makes this pair my favorite 991.5 yet. 

574CNT: Shortly after the 'Lake Havasu', NB and a few brands worked together to bring attention to some of the most iconic color ways ever released, and incorporated them on the widely known model 574. Cncpts' Rosé 997 was one of the 4 pairs featured as 'iconic', and with no question. If you own the original 997 then you know how great this pair was, and surprisingly this 574 did not fall short. The color and material were spot on!

X90SNL: It's odd to call this a collab being that it was a NB store that stepped outside the box to bring their own rendition to the X-90, but it is what it is. Seoul posted teasers of this pair, and once they did, I started putting feelers out to help me land a pair. These colors are bold, and damn this shoe is comfy. Eric B. (Class2001) was stationed in Korea at that time and without blinking, offered his assistance in grabbing me a pair. Thanks again Erik for helping me acquire my first X90.

X90RPK: With the X-90 being the latest and greatest model to hit the streets for NB, it raised question as to who would be the first to put together a project with this model in the USA. Would it be Cncpts? KITH? or Premier?...NOPE! Packer Shoes meshed many colors/tones from NB's history and crammed them into the X-90 and called it the Infinity Edition. This has been the best mash up I've seen, and probably the NB of the year. Great work Packer.

Now I know what you're thinking, "What about....". Well I wasn't able to get many collabs this year that would've surely made this list such as:

-YCMC 'Benjamin Bread' 990
-YCMC x EAT 990
-Kith UA x Nonnative Pack

These were all great projects, but I had other priorities to tend to at the time of release and couldn't bring myself to go into debt just to have the 'newest' ish. Some of you can understand. So just to be clear...these were ALL great collabs! I'm not knocking anyone's hard work. Thank you.